


Choke

by ShadowstarKanada



Series: Lung Capacity [1]
Category: Metal Gear
Genre: Domestic Violence, M/M, Manipulative Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-11-18
Updated: 2005-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:01:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23721268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowstarKanada/pseuds/ShadowstarKanada
Summary: When Snake tells Otacon his feelings, a terrifying tale of the events at Shadow Moses comes to light.
Relationships: Liquid Snake/Otacon
Series: Lung Capacity [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1708537
Kudos: 12





	Choke

_This is it_ , thought Snake, closing in on his prey, one step at a time. Each movement heavily choreographed to make the best possible impression without leaving anything open to chance. He had to be cautious: it wasn't every day that you told your best friend that you'd fallen in love with him, even if you were leaving yourself a pretty big out.

There he was, in his comfortable chair in front of the computer. "Hey," said Dave casually.

Hal looked up and smiled. "Hi, Snake," he replied.

"Any new leads?" he asked.

"No... not really. I've been following up on--" Hal began talking about various random topics about Metal Gear and possible applications in the middle east. Dave stopped listening, as he often did, preferring to watch the other man talk. He had beautiful lips. And his eyes... what were they like behind the glasses? Dave had seen them before, of course, but only when Hal was really tired. He was certain they didn't look their best when Hal was fighting sleep.

Dave smiled as he gazed at them and wondered what they'd look like in the heat of a passionate affair. Or just a romp in the bedroom, if Hal didn't feel like having the full-blown relationship. Of course, what man-- who wasn't interested solely in women, that is-- wouldn't want everything about Dave? He was a man of style, of muscles, of supreme confidence, and a sexy voice on top of that--

"Earth to Snake!" Hal said loudly, waving his hand in front of Dave's eyes. Dave blinked. "What are you _doing_? Here I am telling you about Metal Gear and you're... what, sleeping with your eyes open?"

_Damn. Damn, damn, damn._ Dave shrugged and smiled. "No. I was listening to your beautiful voice."

Hal's eyes widened, the annoyed look on the rest of his face making him look vaguely comical. "What?" he asked after a shocked moment.

Dave paused. Was widening the eyes good or bad? Was he surprised because he'd never thought it would happen to him? That was pretty common, actually, almost all the girls he'd been with were like that, and the men had rarely been different. _I must pick effeminate guys_ , thought Dave, before deciding to try again. "I was gazing deeply into your eyes."

Hal stared at him for a moment more, then stood up, closed his computer and started walking away. "Where're you going, Hal?" asked Dave in confusion.

The other man didn't say a word, but halfway across the room, he turned, looking at Snake with a face as pale as filtered sunlight, then threw his computer at Snake. Dave dodged it easily and it smashed against the wall behind him.

"What the hell?"

Hal was running towards the door while Dave stood slack jawed as this month's love of his life tried to run from what was really a very mild comment, considering they'd already been living together for almost a year. Oh, for the-- He was running towards the door. And then he might run out into the street, where any one of a dozen cameras could catch him without so much as a hat to hide his identity-- "Don't you go out that door," said Snake in horror. "You know they're looking for us!"

Hal stopped, one hand on the doorknob and turned to face Dave. His back was to the wall, and while his face hadn't gotten any whiter, his breathing had increased to the point of hyperventilation. "It was just a joke, Hal. I'm sorry," said Dave, certain the horror was sketched onto his face like an expressionist drawing.

"It didn't sound like a joke," said Hal, each word spoken individually between gulps of air.

"I'm sorry," he said again, then started moving towards Hal, one careful step at a time. Instead of stalking prey, he felt now like he was coming up on a wounded animal, his caution for a completely different reason. He did _not_ want Otacon to strike out at him. He had to diffuse the situation. "I know you're not like that," he said, trying to comfort the other man. "You like women," he said, "and there's nothing wrong with that. It's natural, it's healthy. I like them too. I was just joking."

Dave knew some men were afraid of homosexuality, but this was ridiculous. Hal looked like a deer caught in headlights. Hell, a better comparison would be a deer already trampled by a car. His hand was slowly moving away from the door now, which was a very good sign, at least in Dave's mind. "Go to the couch and sit down," he said slowly. Hal's hand snapped back up to the doorknob. "Please, Hal?" It fell away again, and he started moving to the couch. When he got there, he flopped down like a dead body, albeit breathing more than most living ones did. Dave walked to the man and, careful not to so much as touch him, knelt in front of him and said, "breathe with me."

In and out. In and out. He and Hal practiced breathing for a few minutes until Dave was certain that Hal wasn't going to kill himself by convincing his body it didn't need any more oxygen. "Are you okay?" he asked lightly. Hal nodded, letting himself sink more comfortably into the sofa.

Dave stood up, then in a fluid movement sat down beside Hal, putting his head in his hands and watching Hal out of the corner of his eye. The other man was still pale. His mouth was pressed into so tight a line that his lips weren't visible anymore, his eyes slightly glassy. He was obviously trying to calm himself down. Dave waited until his shoulders were no longer above his ears.

He had to work for a moment to calm his _own_ breathing. "What just happened?" he asked finally, when the shock of Hal's extreme reaction had worn off.

Hal licked his lips, forcing them to loosen. His cheeks began to redden, an unhealthy looking blush against the white of the rest of his face. "Nothing," he said quietly, still shaking. He stood unsteadily, and Snake rose with him, ready to catch him if he should suddenly fall forward. "I dropped my computer. I'd better fix it."

_This is surreal_ , thought Dave, watching the other man trying to act as though he hadn't just had some kind of psychotic episode.

Hal walked over to his computer, lying in pieces on the floor. Dave followed him close behind. "Hal?" The other man didn't look up, just sat and started collecting the broken parts of his laptop. Dave knelt down beside Hal and grabbed his hands. "Hal?" he asked again.

"I'm fine," said Hal, pulling his hands away as though Dave's touch froze his fingers.

"You're not," said Dave, more alarmed than before. Before it was a reaction; now it was a denial that anything had even occurred. This was much worse. _Dropped_ the laptop? And from the look in his eyes, Hal was even trying to convince himself of that. "Hal, I'm sorry," said Dave again, trying to push the fear out of his mind.

"I'm fine," repeated Hal, forcing a smile onto his face for less than a full second.

"Hal," Dave started gently, then stopped and grabbed Hal's hands. Hal shook until he pulled away. " _Please_ , what's wrong?" Hal continued picking up the pieces of LCD and circuit board. Dave was going to ask again, when he heard a very soft remark that couldn't possibly have been true. "What do you mean, Liquid's lover?" he asked.

Hal turned and snarled at him. "I was Liquid's lover, are you happy now?" The words came out in a violent stream without pause between the words, and when they were over, Hal went back to picking up screws with a calm look on his face.

Liquid's lover? _Liquid_? Dave watched Hal pick up the pieces for a few minutes, the horror not receding. He covered his mouth with his hand. _Liquid!?_ His gentle Hal, with that... that monster? He couldn't have meant it. Just couldn't have. Impossible. "What do you mean by-- I need to understand, Hal. Tell me about you and him."

Hal shook his head. "I really don't want to talk about it," he said, his hands barely pausing as they started picking up the keys he'd been typing on what seemed like hours ago.

"We need to talk about this, Hal, so I don't do something like this again." If this sort of breakdown happened during a mission when the stakes were high...

Hal shook his head. "Just don't do that again, and we'll be fine, Snake." His voice barely shook now.

"It's _not_ fine. Hal, do you hate me for killing him? For looking like him? For not saving him?" Hal made no response. "I want to know what happened."

"There's nothing to know." Dave grabbed one of Hal's hands. Hal pulled it away again. "I was his lover, the whole 'Incident at Shadow Moses' thing happened, and it didn't work out," he said, his words cut. The whole sentence sounded wrong.

"You're _lying_ ," said Snake, taking Hal's hand again. "He had you surrounded by poisonous gas, an electrified floor, and a battalion of guards."

"Yeah, and look what happened: a whacko came by with a katana and told you to hurt him more!"

Dave's teeth ground together. " _That was my_ best friend _he crushed like an insect under your Metal Gear's foot_!" Hal flinched. _Flinched_. Dave forced himself to calm down. He was dealing with a Hal who wasn't quite holding his normal full clip of ammo. "He was psychopathic, Hal," he started again, his voice more even. "That can't have been healthy. And look at you, acting the way you just did... What the hell happened to you?"

"I..." Hal's hands paused for a moment, then resumed again. "I'm sorry about your friend."

"Don't ignore the question," he said.

"I..." Hal's hands paused again, this time taking almost a full minute before they started again. Busy. Snake shook his head when he realized what Hal was doing: he was trying to keep busy so he didn't have to think. "Nothing happened," he said, the words spoken quickly, slurring together. "I'm fine, you're fine, everyone's fine except all the people he killed, so let's just drop it." His hands stopped moving again, and he looked into Dave's face beseechingly. "Please?"

Snake looked at Hal's face and shook his head, growling. "I care about you, alright?"

"Well, I don't!" said Hal, his hands furiously moving around on the floor trying to find pieces.

_I don't._ The words echoed around Snake's head for a while. "Thanks," said Snake finally, shaking his head. He stood up, frustrated. How the hell was he supposed to get Hal to talk about this? He wasn't a psychiatrist! It was clear there were some major issues around this whole Liquid thing, and if Hal didn't want to talk about them, if he would rather be destructive to all the people around him, there was nothing Dave could do. Absolutely nothing.

Nothing except stew about it, of course. Hal didn't care about him? Then what the hell were they doing in an apartment together in the first place?

Hal sniffed loudly.

Snake reminded himself once again that the bomb in Otacon's head currently had a problem with the timer.

"I mean I... I don't care about _him_ ," said Hal quietly. He sniffed again and rubbed his hand over his eyes. There was a long pause while Dave walked slowly towards Hal and tried to think of what to say. "Or," he continued, even more quietly, "or me."

Dave knelt down again next to Hal, trying to figure out if he should hug the other man or not. His normal reaction would have been to do it, but with these new revelations... with Hal's reaction to a few words, he couldn't give the scientist a full hug. He satisfied himself by putting a hand hesitantly on Hal's shoulder. "Please, Hal," he said, his voice no louder than Hal's had been. "Tell me."

"Dunno how," said Hal, sniffling again.

Snake grabbed one of the pieces of speaker that had been destroyed. He couldn't imagine how Hal was going to put this back together again. "Can you really fix this?" asked Snake, for lack of an answer to Hal's question.

"Yeah. Just start from the bottom," he said, his breathing starting to hitch again. "I'll probably need a new monitor. Hard drive might be shot, too." He paused to sniff and examine one of the pieces, his lower lip almost trembling. "I liked this computer."

Dave nodded. He knew how Hal felt.

"Tell me about how you met him."

**T - 182 days**

****Liquid Snake arrived at the compound on a nondescript helicopter that belied the seriousness of his task. He was at Shadow Moses for one reason and one reason only: to get every scrap of information about the development of his _birthright_ , Metal Gear. He had no problems with the US Government developing it, but he was not very pleased with the idea that they would keep it. This was all that Big Boss had left to him.

Well, that, command of special ops forces and around a two hundred and fifty brothers to take care of. Leadership was a burden, but even so, Liquid was glad Big Boss had chosen _him_ and not the _other_ Snake. The other Snake would have made a right mess of things, Liquid was sure.

He stepped off the chopper to be met by the head engineer for the entire project, Dr. Marvin Griffin. A stout man with legs shorter than his torso, Griffin led Liquid through the area. He showed Liquid where the nuclear warheads were, brought him to the remote site where they'd already started on building the rail gun that would be used on the giant robot, and had even brought him to see the weapons room in the second basement. Why they needed an armory in a research facility when there weren't any soldiers around was, quite frankly, beyond Liquid's comprehension, but he filed the fact away against the day it would become useful.

But the most important thing that the man did that day was bringing him into the area where the designers for the main body of Metal Gear were working. The lead engineer in charge of creating the bones of the robot was so dedicated to his work that when Liquid arrived, all his underlings came to greet the VIP first.

Liquid ignored them all in favor of the man who thought so highly of Big Boss'-- his father's-- final project. He was good looking, in a scientist sort of way. His dedication to the project, though... This man would be useful.

Liquid had read the biographies of all the men before he'd come, and he'd already selected this one: alienated from his family, devoted to his work and little else, high enough in the chain of command that leaked information would be crucial, and to top it all off, bisexual. Liquid would have the fringe benefit of having someone to keep him warm at night along with all the other opportunities.

Liquid walked up behind the scientist and put a hand on the man's shoulder. "Huh?" he asked, startled.

"This is Hal Emmerich," said Dr Griffin helpfully. "Hal, this is Liquid Snake."

"Oh." Hal's brow furrowed and he pushed his glasses up on his nose self-consciously. "Uh, hi. Did your parents name you that?" He paused, then blushed as though he'd just said something he shouldn't have. "Um. Welcome to Shadow Moses?" he tried.

Wonderful! The man was a social misfit as well! "What are you working on?" asked Liquid, leaning over the man with a slight smirk. As if he didn't know.

"Uh... it's a mobile TMD," said Hal.

_A what?_ Liquid stared at Hal for a moment. They were lying to him. Liquid glanced around quickly to note that no one except for Griffin made any movement at that. He'd have to ask later.

"See, the goal is to have something we can protect the troops with in many different countries. It may look a bit big, but--" The other man started going on about weights and sizes and the ability to withstand pressure from bullets. Liquid found himself smiling as he watched Hal's hands make motions.

Hal's eyes were moving around Liquid's face. "You have," said Liquid quietly, interrupting Hal's long winded speech about the project, "the most lovely eyes."

Hal looked at Liquid, his eyes widening, and he blushed. "Oh," he said. Hal licked his lips. "Thanks," he said, rubbing his neck and looking at Liquid again. His blush deepened.

Liquid smiled, confident that Hal was attracted. "Is there a restaurant on this base?" Liquid asked, letting his attention focus directly on Hal, tuning out Griffin behind him.

Hal's eyes focussed on Liquid as though hypnotized, as though no one else in the room existed for him anymore. Liquid agreed. They didn't exist for Hal anymore. "Not for fifty miles," said Hal, biting his lip.

"Then I think," said Liquid, putting a hand on Hal's knee, "that you should come on my helicopter with me."

"The... the work..." said Hal, vaguely, his eyes caught in Liquid's.

Liquid smiled. "I'd love to hear about it in more detail," he said.

*****

"Manipulative bastard," muttered Snake.

"It wasn't like that," protested Hal. "We... we cared about each other."

"You cared about _him_ ," said Dave. "I doubt the reverse was true."

"You're wrong."

**T - 140 days**

****Liquid took Hal's mouth by turning their heads, capturing his mouth and pressing his tongue hard against the other man's. "Oh!" Hal turned, his eyes alit with excitement. "I was wondering when you'd get back." He turned and hugged Liquid. "I missed you," he said, glancing around the room.

"I missed you, too," Liquid said with a laugh. He glanced around the room, where several scientists were very conspicuously _not_ paying attention to them. That was good. His earlier warning had stuck. "Let's go to your room," he whispered into Hal's ear. "I found something I think we'll like."

"Oh? What?"

Liquid smiled. He'd learned over the past month that Hal had never been in a long-term sexual relationship-- his sex had all been from short lived flings and one night stands that had left him more and more vulnerable to anyone who would provide permanence in his life. His only long-term relationship had been with his step-mother: Liquid would have to thank her. Hal had no idea about what was a normal, healthy relationship, or sex-life for that matter-- he barely even knew what he liked. A little bit of pressure, and Hal would do anything he was asked, whether he enjoyed it or not.

"You'll see," said Liquid. He fingered the cuffs in his pocket.

This was going to be a lot of fun.

*****

Snake shook his head and picked up a few pieces of broken disc drive. "All right. Everything was just peachy. You were having kinky sex with my brother. Great fun. So what happened?"

"You make it sound like he was a monster."

"He _was_ a monster," said Snake. "Do you think normal people want to start World War Three?"

"You don't understand at all." Hal shook his head. "Can you get me my toolkit?" Dave narrowed his eyes. "I'm not trying to avoid you," said Hal. "Really. I just need my screwdrivers."

Snake stood, his mouth in an angry frown, then stalked to Hal's desk. "So he was, what, a nice guy? Never did anything violent until he took over the compound?"

"I didn't say _that_ ," said Hal quietly. "He..." Dave turned to look at Hal. His eyes were slightly haunted. "We had a pretty strange life together. He was doing this work on genetics, and I was dealing with Metal Gear and... things got rough sometimes..."

**T - 65 days**

****"So how'd your experiments go?" asked Hal as he got home. "Did you find anything interesting about... uh... the telomeres?"

"They're not done yet," Liquid said moodily. He shook his head in anger. It had been over a week and he'd only barely gotten his people to hack into the databases. "I'm not sure they'll ever be done."

"Can I help?"

"No," said Liquid shortly. This was his family's problem, it would damn well stay in the family. No matter how big he found that family ended up being.

"Are you sure? I'm a real whiz at computerization, you know." He opened his fridge and pulled out a bottle of water, then carefully poured it into the coffee machine. "You could pay me in coffee!"

He couldn't have offered this before they'd gotten in? "That stuff's bad for you," Liquid muttered.

"It's not _that_ bad. Besides, I think I've replaced half my blood with it. If you tested _my_ blood, you'd probably find caffeine in my genes!" Liquid glared at him. "Well, _we_ had a major breakthrough today," said Hal excitedly, the smile on his face grating on Liquid's nerves. "I'm probably going to go back a little later tonight, unless you tire me out."

He expected Liquid to entertain him? "Sounds like you should have stayed there," said Liquid, his voice bitter and angry.

Hal stared at Liquid, head tilted for a moment, then stomped his foot on the floor. "You could be happy for me, you know," said Hal, suddenly angry. "I thought you liked hearing about Metal Gear!"

" _I_ am not in the mood to listen to your ramblings right now, Hal."

"Well, maybe I'll just go back to the office then," said Hal angrily.

"Fucking _do it_ then."

Hal's hands clenched into fists, then relaxed. "It must have been a _really_ bad day," he said quietly, before walking over to Liquid and kneeling in front of the other man. His hands went to Liquid's, covering them. "I can make you feel better," he said, then leaned forward to kiss Liquid's crotch. In response, Liquid pushed him backwards. Hal fell sprawled on the floor. He cradled his arm to himself.

"How can you-- You... Asshole."

Liquid's eyes rose and he looked at Hal's angry, hurt face. "Pardon?" he asked lightly.

"You heard me. I can't believe you-- That _hurt._ "

Unacceptable.

Liquid rose and in three steps and a leap, pinned Hal to the floor under him, one hand pressing down on Hal's neck. "Repeat that," hissed the Snake. Hal's eyes widened, and he started making noises in the back of his throat. "Say it again!"

Hal's hands flew up to try to get Liquid's hands away from him, trying to push them up, then when that didn't work, to the side. When his eyelids started fluttering up and down, Liquid relented slightly, allowing the man to gasp in a breath. He felt the other man's penis rise against him and smirked slightly. He leaned in and stole a kiss from Hal's unresisting lips.

"Now I see what you like," he whispered. He kept up the pressure with one hand and unzipped Hal's fly with the other, then began to fondle Hal's balls. He kissed Hal once again, removing the pressure every once in a while to allow the man a breath, quickly sucked in. Hal was quiet for once. No complaints, no moans of pleasure or squeals of fear: just the soft sound of Liquid's hand stroking against the other man's hard member.

When it was fully extended, Liquid hit it with a loud, heavy smack. Hal winced, but his eyes went back to Liquid's, pleading for him to end his torment. Instead, Liquid kissed Hal, letting up the pressure and blowing his breath into the other man before resuming the strangulation. Hal could breathe on _his_ say-so.

Hal came without a sound, almost passing into unconsciousness. His head fell to the side and Liquid let go of his neck, giving him another gentle kiss. He was deathly quiet, the only sound being the harsh breaths that rang deceptively loud in the room. Liquid relished the sound of silence.

They would do this again. Soon. It would serve as a reminder to the other man about how powerless he was. And he'd internalize it quickly enough. Maybe one day, he'd even learn to _like_ it.

*****

"After that..." Hal shook his head. "Well, it was fun, right? He liked it like that."

Snake's eyes widened. He'd never imagined Hal would be so... adventurous as he'd just said. Well, not without a lot of time and patience. Liquid didn't have either of those in particularly large amounts. "Did you?"

Hal looked down and didn't say anything for a while. "It hurt."

Dave sat next to Hal, putting the toolkit down beside him. "Were you scared? Because--"

"Of course not!" said Hal quickly. "He-- He was a good man. He wouldn't do something that would make me scared."

"Hal, you're a useless liar." He shook his head and looked away. "You're much better at telling the truth."

"I'm telling you the truth," said Hal, his voice desperate. "He was a good man!" The words came out in a stream.

"A good man wouldn't have hurt you."

"He didn't _hurt_ me. He let me... I mean... I chose it, sometimes."

Let him choose? Did he really think Snake couldn't see what he'd meant to say? "Over what, exactly?" Dave challenged.

"Depended. He liked ropes. He really enjoyed using... uh..." Hal took a second to laugh uncomfortably. "Props. Couple of times, it was that or another man. He always seemed to find the most... well, the largest people. And they weren't generally considerate. When they left, he'd finish me off. Sometimes, though... I thought he liked _watching_ me more than _doing_ me." Dave was staring at him, his mouth slightly parted in disgust. "I only chose that once," said Hal, looking away.

And he'd let Hal choose it. False choices. Dave shook his head. "Would you ever have chosen any of those yourself?" He looked back at Hal in time to see him look down. There was a much better question: How often were you having this kind of violent sex? But Snake didn't want to ask it. He didn't want to admit that he was afraid of the answer. He asked another question instead. "So why didn't you leave?"

**T - 60 days**

****"You're making a mistake," said Liquid, holding Hal's as-yet unfiled resignation papers in his right hand.

"Give those back," said Hal, reaching for them. Liquid raised them so that Hal couldn't get them. "Don't act like a kid."

"You can't just leave your work, Hal," said Liquid. "That robot needs you." Hal rolled his eyes. Liquid paced forward and hugged Hal. " _I_ need you."

"I--" Hal sighed. "I know, Liquid. I love you too. It's not like I want to leave you." Liquid could see the lie in his eyes, but decided not to call him on it. "I just want a change of scenery. I don't like Alaska anymore. It's too cold here."

"They won't let you leave Hal. I've talked to them. They can't let you leave until Metal Gear is complete."

"But--" Hal's shoulders sank. "Maybe we could take a vacation?"

Liquid smiled possessively and tightened his arms around his lover. He had no intentions of letting Hal go anywhere. "We'll see," he said gently, then kissed Hal deeply. Hal returned the kiss very hesitantly. Liquid smiled and began pulling Hal backwards. He guided Hal to the bed slowly, pushing the other man down onto the bed before he pulled open the drawer. Hal's shoulders twitched, but he said nothing as Liquid placed the blindfold over his eyes. He didn't say anything when Liquid turned him onto his front and tied his hands close to the bedposts above the gleaming silver railing so that he couldn't relax and lie down, though his hands tried to pull away for a moment. He winced when the clamps closed hard on his nipples, but again, had not a word of protest. Liquid smiled and pulled Hal's pants away.

It was time to add something new to the repertoire. He pulled the cock ring out, carefully placing the leather piece on Hal.

"What are you doing?" asked Hal nervously.

Liquid bared his teeth in a rictus of a smile. Fearing change was good. "It's only me," said Liquid, stroking Hal for a moment to bring his penis into an erection, then attached a small weight very carefully. He undressed slowly, allowing Hal to get used to the feeling of a long-lasting hard-on.

"I... I don't like this..."

Liquid smiled and moved to stand on the bed with his legs at Hal's shoulders. "Every man likes it," he said calmly. "Aren't you a man?"

"Yes," said Hal.

Liquid ignored his unconfident answer. "If you don't like it, we can take it off," he said, reaching down to gently stroke Hal's hair. "Any other lover would have expected this long before now, though. We've been moving so very slowly..." Unsaid was what he'd repeated over and over at first, and rarely needed to at this point: that Hal's inexperience was holding them back, that Liquid might leave for someone with the courage to participate fully in sex, that Hal's previous encounters had been short because he could not please any of his lovers in sexual encounters, that it was Hal's inferiority to most people that made him fail every time he tried to be the kind of man his lovers wanted...

Hal shook his head. "I like it."

Liquid grinned in triumph, then pulled Hal's head up and opened his mouth. He placed himself in Hal's mouth and continued to gently stroke Hal's hair. Hal's tongue moved as Liquid had taught him, and he sucked as hard as he could to try to satisfy his lover. Liquid concentrated on keeping himself as limp as possible through the treatment. He pulled himself out after a few minutes. "Not very good today," he said, gently to reinforce his superiority, kindness, and tolerance of Hal's many faults.

Hal choked out an apology for all of them.

Liquid stepped over Hal's arms and pushed his legs apart. "We'll do this the old fashioned way," he said, stroking Hal's back. A finger went down to Hal's crease and he worked carefully to open the anus, red and puckered from Hal's exertions last night.

When it was as open as it was going to get, Liquid pushed himself in, eyes closing from the pleasure. Taking a man apart resulted in so many varied benefits... He smiled as Hal turned his hands to entangle them in the restraints in order to keep himself from moving as Liquid's length went in and out.

Liquid reached a hand under to stroke Hal while he moved in and out of the tight entrance. When he came, Hal was engorged, panting from his arousal but unable to do anything about it. Liquid silently pulled out the handcuffs from the drawer and undid the restraints around Hal's hands. "We're done," he said, then waited.

He didn't have to wait long. Hal's hands moved to ease his tension. Liquid grabbed Hal's hands and quickly cuffed them over his head. "I said, we're _done_."

Hal moved uncomfortably for a moment. "But Liquid, I-- I'm not."

Liquid gave an audible sigh. "And?"

Hal's head shook for a moment, uncomprehending. Liquid lay down beside him, watching his face with amusement. Arousal mixed with fear, humiliation, anger, and finally a dawning idea of what it was he was supposed to do. It took almost an hour. "Please?" asked Hal finally. Liquid smiled again, and helped Hal out of his predicament.

*****

Hal sighed. "I _thought_ about leaving, but I mean... He loved me."

"Used you is more like it. Why do you think he wanted to keep you there? It was all about Metal Gear and world domination," said Snake harshly.

"It _wasn't_! He _loved_ me!"

"Love?" Snake shook his head. "What the hell do you think love _is_?"

Hal hiccoughed. "You said..." he sniffed, "You said that if you love someone, you have to be able to protect them. He protected me."

Dave's shoulders fell. "Hal... he wasn't protecting _you_ , he was protecting _Metal Gear_."

Hal took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. "You weren't joking before, were you. You're just trying to make me sleep with you."

"Hal... That's not it at all," said Dave, shocked by the blatant statement. "I just want to help you."

"Help me? Help me how? By making it sound like I slept with a lunatic?"

"You _did_ sleep with a lunatic!"

"He _wasn't!_ "

"You think what he did was _justified?_ "

"Maybe... maybe it _was!_ "

Snake swore. This wasn't getting them anywhere.

He stood up, walked into the little kitchen, and pulled some eggs and vegetables out of the refrigerator. Quickly, he began chopping the vegetables up with a large knife, then threw them into a pan on the stove, turning the heat up as high as it would go. He cracked five of the eggs into a pan, angrily adding salt to the concoction.

He pulled down two plates from the cupboard, almost breaking them as he set them down on the countertop, then turned his attention back towards the omelette. It was starting to burn on the bottom, dark smoke rising up. He turned the fan on to dispel it.

How the hell was Snake supposed to be supportive of Otacon sleeping with Liquid? Did Otacon really expect Snake to just be happy with it? Even if Snake hadn't had any feelings-- But then, might that not be why Hal had hidden it? Fear of the criticism that went with the admission? Snake shook his head and turned the eggs over. Maybe he was being too critical. Hal needed a friend, not someone criticizing decisions he'd made thanks to Snake's insane brother. He needed support. He needed help.

"Look, Hal--"

"Maybe I--"

They both stopped. Snake shook his head and put the omelette onto the two plates and brought them to the table. "Come eat," he said.

Hal stopped fooling with his toolkit and came to the table. He sat down across from Snake. "So."

"So."

The two of them gave each other fake, awkward smiles.

"He protected you?" asked Dave.

Hal took a bite of his meal. "Yeah," he said cautiously.

**T - 10 days**

****"Sabotage!" Hal exclaimed loudly once they'd regained the privacy of their room. "I can't believe someone would do that to Metal Gear."

Liquid nodded sagely. "All defensive projects have detractors from those who don't want people to defend themselves. We'll have to be careful to make sure that no one tries to hurt any of _you._ I'm going to bring in the best soldiers. We've already got a cover."

"I'm just glad you're going to be in charge of security here. I feel much safer knowing that. I'm sure everyone does." Hal moved to Liquid and hugged him. "You're a real hero, you know that?"

"Hm," murmured Liquid, pulling Hal into a deep kiss. "I'm glad I'm _your_ hero."

Hal smiled shyly. After all this time, he'd still retained those vestiges... He was still in awe of the soldier. Liquid was truly the center of his world, which, to Liquid's thinking, was exactly where he should be for Hal. The soldier smiled at the thought. "I am too," he said simply, then returned the kiss. He smiled and pulled Hal down into a cross legged seat. "Strip," he said.

*****

"So once he took over," said Dave quietly, "it was all... bubbles and hearts. Why'd you help me? Did you think you were helping _him_?"

Hal snook his head. "No. Things got bad after he started to take over. Really bad." Hal's eyes started to take on a glossy look. "I didn't know how to help him... I was angry with him. I thought..." he winced. "When you told me he'd been lying to me, I didn't know what to do. He'd already--"

Hal cut himself off again.

Snake drank his glass of water and wished it was whiskey. "Already what?"

**T - 48 hours**

****"Leave me alone!" said Hal, his eyes wide. His hands were held to the red mark on his face.

"I told you to stay _here_ ," said Liquid. He moved towards the engineer aggressively until the other man was trapped between him and the wall. "Why do you think I tell you things, Hal?" he asked, pulling Hal's hand away from his face before gently outlining the bruise with a finger.

"I can go where I want," Hal insisted. "You don't have any right to--"

Liquid kicked his ankle out from under him, and Hal crumpled to the floor. "I have every right to keep you out of harm's way," Liquid Snake hissed into Hal's ear. "What were you thinking?"

Hal grabbed his ankle and looked at Liquid, anger, fear and desperation mixing in his eyes. "They were going to kill the dogs! I couldn't let them do that!"

"For dogs? You disobeyed me for _dogs_? You imbecile. They could have killed _you_ instead of the dogs!" Liquid pushed Hal onto his stomach and pulled his pants down to knees, ignoring the struggling.

"What are you doing?" asked Hal in a panic.

"Teaching you a lesson, lover," said Liquid angrily. "When I tell you what to do, it is for a reason," he growled into Hal's ear. "If you disobey me, there are consequences."

Liquid pulled off his own pants while the man below him renewed his futile struggling. "Let go of me," demanded Hal.

"No. You will learn this lesson, and you will no longer disobey me." Liquid stroked himself quickly, forcing the blood to his penis with a Pavlovian-like trained response. He parted Hal's buttocks quickly as he twisted himself around expertly to keep the man from escape while giving himself easy access.

"I'm sorry," said Hal, trying to twist his neck around to show his sincerity.

Liquid looked into Hal's eyes and saw fear, not repentance. He buried himself in Hal's tight opening without preparation. Hal cried out in pain. Liquid pulled himself out and buried himself again.

"Stop, please... I'm sorry," he tried again.

"Take your punishment like a man," Liquid said into Hal's ear.

He pounded into Hal furiously, ignoring Hal's agonized whimpers. In and out, in and out, feeling better and better about Hal's disobedience with each thrust, each little cry that broke free from the engineer's throat. When Hal began to thump his head on the floor in time to Liquid's penetrations, he pulled his lover's hair to keep the man from harming himself.

He pulled himself out before he came, vaguely disgusted by Hal's frightened moans, then turned him over. "Stop your crying," he ordered.

Hal didn't comply.

Liquid put his hands onto Hal's throat and pushed down. The man began thrashing and his mouth opened as wide as it could in a vain attempt to get air. Liquid relented and shoved his penis into Hal's open mouth instead. Hal had been well trained: Hal's tongue began to move and his penis began to rise even as Liquid pulled the man's hair again, causing yet more tears and whimpers. The movement of Hal's throat felt good. Liquid pulled out to let Hal breathe for a second, then pushed in again. His knees, on the other hand, were starting to hurt.

Hal shook and took advantage of his chance to gasp for air as Liquid stood, shuffled them over to the wall and pulled him to _his_ knees. Hal closed his mouth, breathing furiously through his nose to try to avoid a renewed assault.

He wasn't getting out of it that easily. Liquid pulled Hal's hands over his head, one foot on the already injured ankle to keep the man on the floor. As Hal opened his mouth to cry out, he shoved himself back down the man's throat and eased his pressure on the rest of Hal's body. His tongue began moving again, and Liquid looked down, pleased to see that Hal was filling out nicely down there. Liquid kept the man's hands up high so that he couldn't bring himself to release. That would be Liquid's task.

Hal's eyes were closed, which suited Liquid just fine. He didn't want to see those tear filled dwellings of the soul. They might cause him to relent, and that was not something he wanted. "Swallow," he commanded, coming a moment later. Hal choked, but did as ordered.

As soon as Hal was finished, Liquid pivoted and brought Hal to an uncomfortable position on the floor, legs pinned down from kneeling, hands behind his back, chest pressed down so that he couldn't remove them, penis jutting up like a US monument.

"Everything you have," said Liquid quickly so as not to lose Hal's emotional turmoil before he'd finished, "everything you need, _I_ gave you." His hand touched Hal softly, a true lover's caress. "Do you understand?"

Hal nodded, his eyes squeezed shut while he bit his lip, some of Liquid's cum trickling out of his mouth.

A lover's touch was necessary now. He stroked Hal gently from base to tip. "You belong to me, do you understand?" he asked, more gently this time. Hal nodded and moaned. This time, he was asking for release instead of reprieve. "I care for you. I love you. You know that?" Hal nodded once more. "And I'm the only one who ever will." He gave a final jerk and Hal spouted like a water fountain.

Liquid pulled his pants up and looked down at the other man, quivering like a leaf, before trying to pull Hal into his arms. Hal jerked away at his touch. "Do you think I liked that, Hal?" he asked, using the name for intimacy. Oh, he had, but Hal would be frightened to know that. Hal would run if he didn't know beyond the shadow of a doubt that he'd brought it on himself. "You didn't give me a choice. I tell you things for a reason, Hal."

Hal's shaking increased as he began to sob. Liquid shook his head, then took Hal into his arms and gently laid him down on their bed. This post-violence was crucial. The key to any lasting relationship was keeping the other off-balance. "Don't make me do that again, Hal," he said quietly as he gently brushed the tears out of Hal's eyes. "You have to stay in here until tomorrow night. Do you understand, Hal?"

Hal nodded through his shuddering sobs.

"I love you too much to have to do that again."

*****

"He _what_?" Snake cut Hal off with a punch that dented the table.

"He... he loved me. That's why he did it."

"He raped you, _violently_ , and you think he _loved you?_ " This was too much. Far too much. Snake stood without realizing it, staring in horror at Hal.

Hal tried to take a bite of his eggs. His hand stopped before the food could get to his mouth. It fell back to his plate instead, along with the rest. "It wasn't the first time, and it wasn't that _bad_ ," he said. "I came _too_. And I shouldn't have--"

"No!" Dave pounded the table again. "I _don't_ want to hear you say it was your fault."

"But it was," said Hal miserably. "If I hadn't--"

" _No!"_ Dave's eyes were wide, furious as he stared at Hal. " _How_ can you think he _loved_ you?"

"I..." Hal closed his eyes. "Well, what's the alternative?" he asked.

It sapped his anger to see Hal's face looking so guilty and sad and afraid. Afraid of his censure, his anger... Dave walked around to the other side of the table and put a hand on Hal's shoulder again. "Hal, please." His other hand went to Hal's other shoulder, and he turned Hal around in his seat. "It wasn't your fault."

Hal shrugged and turned his head so that he didn't have to look at Dave.

How could Liquid have done this? How could Dave not have seen this... this... decay in a man he was supposed to be protecting? A man he'd thought to sleep with! He'd been watching Hal for the past three weeks trying to find out if he'd be receptive to any advances, and he'd missed this...!

"So he raped you."

"We made love," said Hal quickly.

"He forced you," repeated Dave in frustration. "Then what?"

**T - 36 hours**

****"Sniper Wolf," said Liquid, his eyes fixed on the doors to the science labs, "take the lead engineer with you to feed the dogs."

Wolf narrowed her eyes. Behind her, Ocelot did the same. "Why?" she asked flatly.

Liquid did not like having to explain his orders, but it was a cold day in hell. "We only need one of them," he said, just as unemotionally. "And we can't have him whining about his colleagues."

Ocelot pulled his guns out and twirled them. "I can make sure he does as he's told," said Ocelot, a sneer on his face.

"No," said Liquid. "Wolf will take him."

Ocelot shrugged. Wolf nodded. "Babysitting duty," she said with a slightly resigned sigh. "Very well."

The door opened and the three walked in. Liquid looked at the engineers sitting in a circle, hands tied, genome army soldiers' guns in their faces. Several of them were quivering. Liquid recognized Hal in an instant.

Still, Liquid walked around them several times before letting his eyes alight on the terrified man he desired. "You," Liquid said, unmoving.

"M-m-me," he said, his eyes darting from Liquid to each of the guns in turn before returning to Liquid.

Sniper Wolf stepped forward. "I am going to feed the wolves outside," she said imperiously. Hal looked at Wolf pleadingly. She closed her eyes slowly, tilting her head, then opened them. "He can help."

Liquid looked at her as though he were considering it, then shrugged and picked the man up by his coat and tossed the lead engineer at Sniper Wolf, who caught him with ease. She nodded to Liquid, then dragged Hal out of the room by the rope around his hands.

When the door was closed, he looked at Ocelot. "Do you want them?" he asked.

Ocelot shrugged. "There's no challenge to it," he said, tilting his head.

Liquid nodded and looked at the helpless men arrayed in front of him, then turned to his soldiers and brothers to give them the order. "I don't want a drop of blood on this floor. Take them outside and kill them."

*****

Dave sank down on the sofa. "Well, at least I understand why you decided you'd fallen in love with her."

"I was confused," said Hal. "He didn't hurt me, even though I'd disobeyed him." His voice clearly said he thought he had deserved to be hurt.

Dave's face fell. "It was no reason to hurt you in the first place."

Hal stood up, his lunch left uneaten on the table, and walked to the sofa to sit next to Dave. He closed his eyes and took one of Dave's hands. "It's nice of you to say that, but I know it's not true. You'd do the same."

Dave snatched his hand away. "You think I'd do that to you?"

"I deserved it, Snake, we both know that." Hal bit his lip and reached for Dave's hand again. "I mean, look at what happened when you came in?" he continued hesitantly. "I didn't tell you what you wanted to know; you picked me up and shook me. I'm sure you remember."

Dave stared at Hal. "That wasn't--" Dave stopped and started again. "You..."

"See? I deserved it. All of it." Hal scratched the back of his neck and smiled uneasily.

"No, Hal. You didn't," he said softly. He pulled Hal into a hug. Hal shivered in his arms, but Dave held his ground, waiting for the tremors to stop. "You need to believe me," he said.

Hal shook his head.

**T - 24 hours**

****Liquid pushed Hal into the lab. "You saw the dogs again?" he asked.

Hal nodded mutely and retreated from Liquid, walking to the other side of the room, favoring one leg.

Liquid followed him until he was able to press the other man up against the wall. "You should thank me," he said, hiding a cruel smile. His finger traced a tear that was tracking down Hal's cheek, then he pushed himself against Hal, his erection jutting into Hal's body. "Or didn't you want to see them?" he asked, licking Hal's lips gently. "You could have stayed with me," he said with a smile.

Hal took a halting breath. "Thank you," he said.

"For everything?" asked Liquid. Hal nodded. "Last night, too?" he asked, eyes narrowing ever so slightly. This was an important answer. Hal nodded again. "Good," said Liquid, nuzzling Hal's cheek, letting the game come to an end.

Hal sniffed audibly. "Where did everyone go? My team, I mean?" he asked with another sniff.

"I sent them home," said Liquid. "I only need you to run the tests. You can finish those for me, right?"

Hal nodded. "They're almost done," he said, his voice shaking.

"Good," said Liquid. He let go of Hal so that the wall was the only thing holding the man up. Hal sank down. Liquid smiled at Hal again. "I've added some security measures. Don't leave the room."

*****

"You _thanked_ him," whispered Dave. "He _made_ you thank him." He shook his head. His brother had done this, had made Hal into this... broken man... this broken man who'd managed to hide his injuries for over a year. Forcing Hal to _thank him_ , as though he'd done the kind thing, the nice thing, something he should be thankful for... It was an insult.

"I should have thanked him more," said Hal.

Dave shook his head. He couldn't fix this. _No one_ could fix this. This wasn't just about sex. This was about control. He hadn't known his brother was so sadistic. Allowing Hal to choose his torments, making Hal an active participant in this sick game of Liquid's... he'd been expecting to _keep_ Hal. He'd separated him from everyone, raped him, and even the consensual sex sounded iffy the way Hal talked about it. Strangulation, humiliation... "You're lucky you're not dead," breathed Snake.

Hal, still in Snake's arms, taking in big, gulping breaths, was trying to continue his story. Dave half wished that he would stop.

**T - 4 hours**

****"Ketchup, Hal?" asked Liquid, coming up behind the other man, seeing through his invisibility suit with ease. Hal stiffened. "Or would you prefer 'Otacon?'"

Hal turned the suit off. "I... I thought he might be hungry. He looks just like you. I..."

Liquid moved to Hal and punched him in the gut. It was a light punch, as far as Liquid's strength went, but to Hal it was obviously worse than anything he'd had happen to him before. The man collapsed into a heap halfway across the room. "Somehow," said Liquid, "my dear brother escaped after you visited him. How did that happen?" he asked, walking toward Hal slowly.

"I don't know," said Hal, curling into a ball.

Liquid narrowed his eyes and knelt next to Hal. "Are you afraid?" Hal nodded. Liquid smiled briefly, satisfied with the answer. "Why would you disobey me?" he asked gently, pulling Hal's face out from between his knees. He laid a soft kiss on Hal's lips.

"I don't know," whimpered Hal.

Liquid kissed Hal again. "It's because you're stupid, Hal," he said, sincerity dripping from his voice in just the right amount. "You must remember to let me take care of you. You can't do it for yourself." He blew in Hal's ear. "My brother is dangerous."

Hal nodded. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

Liquid stood. "Stay away from him," he ordered, standing. It was time to find his wayward brother again.

*****

"You never told me," said Dave quietly. It was his fault. That had been his _fault_! He'd asked Otacon to bring him the damned _keys_ to the _door_ , not thinking there were consequences to Hal's actions, not thinking there was anything beyond an ill-defined fear of what the guards would do to him...

"Told you? When would I have told you? I knew he had to be monitoring the radio communications. Just because _your_ side didn't think of it didn't mean--"

" _My_ side?" asked Dave, letting go of Hal. "What do you mean, _my_ side? Weren't we on the same side?"

"Yes, but..." Hal shook his head and turned away. "It's complicated. I was on his side too."

Snake shook his head. "Who was on _your_ side?"

" _He_ was," said Hal with absolute certainty.

**T - 2 hours**

****Liquid waited until Snake left the snow field before grabbing Hal in a choke hold. "Loved her?" he snarled. Liquid could tell that Hal couldn't breathe, but just now, he didn't care one way or the other. At least he'd learned not to fight against it, which made things much easier. Not that dominating Hal Emmerich would ever be a challenge. "What do you _mean_ , _you loved her_?" He let his hold loosen a moment so that Hal could suck in another breath, but he didn't let the engineer answer. "You didn't _love_ her," he hissed into Hal's ear. "You love _me_."

He grabbed Hal's balls with his other hand, twisting sharply, with just enough force to make Hal blow out the last of his air. "You're _mine_. Everything about you is _mine_. If I ever hear you use the word _love_ to anyone but me, I'll rip your beating heart out. _Do you understand me_?" He shook Hal and loosened his hold enough that Hal could get another breath.

Hal nodded.

Liquid let go of Hal, letting the man collapse into a heap in the snow, then left without another word.

*****

"He let me off easy."

Snake laid his head back. He should have stayed in the field longer. If he'd been there for Otacon, instead of feeling sorry for himself for not protecting Meryl... "Not really."

"Of course he did. I should have known better."

Dave shook his head. "You were already upset. Maybe he felt that she was already out of the picture. He instigated it anyways, letting you go out with her after he'd attacked you. He had to know that you'd fall for her."

"Maybe it was a test. Maybe he was just too busy to deal with my... my stupidity," he said, shame dripping from his voice.

**T - 30 minutes**

****Liquid stood with Meryl's unconscious form in his arms, staring at Hal, who was looking up at the remains of Metal Gear. He dropped the woman and walked to Hal, gliding in front of the other man so that Hal had no time to react. "Are you happy?" he asked.

Hal tried to move back. Liquid grabbed both of Hal's arms and pulled them around the smaller man's body, pinning them to Hal's back. He shifted so that he was able to hold both of Hal's wrists with one of his massive hands, putting the other down Hal's pants and onto his ass to force the smaller man to him.

He pushed his middle finger into Hal's anus harshly. He could still feel the damage he'd caused yesterday, and smiled cruelly as he reached Hal's prostate, forcing Hal to whimper from both pleasure _and_ pain. "You destroyed your robot. Are you happy?" he repeated.

Hal whined in the back of his throat as a second finger penetrated him. "I heard you talking to him. You told him how to destroy it," he said. A third joined. The pain was obviously starting to overwhelm Hal, as tears appeared in the corner of his eyes.

Good. Served him right. Personality?

"Why did you do it?" Liquid pushed a fourth finger in.

"I'm sorry," whimpered Hal.

Liquid bared his teeth at the other man, staring into his brown eyes. After all this time, he still didn't known better? "You're not sorry," he said, kissing Hal's mouth savagely. "But you're going to be."

*****

Hal stopped speaking suddenly, his face going white again. "I can't keep telling you this!" he said, pulling himself out of Snake's arms. "I don't _want_ to keep telling you this." He put his head in his hands and started sobbing again.

Dave stood suddenly, massaging his temples. What more could Liquid have _done_? Hal was... was... He was shaking, sobbing, and hyperventilating again.

Dave turned back to Hal, heart in his hands. "Calm down, Hal," he said, putting his hands on Hal's shoulders. If he didn't finish this, who knew how long it would take him to open up to anyone enough to say this? And it was important. Very important. He had to get it out of himself, to start the healing process, or there was no way he'd ever be fixed.

Hal's sobbing slowly subsided as Snake stayed with him. "You can't close it in," he said, more certain than ever when Hal shuddered a breath.

"I just..."

"Please, Hal," said Snake, pulling Hal back into his arms. "You know I'm not him. I won't hurt you, Hal. I won't ever hurt you."

Hal took another shuddering breath. "You say that _now_..."

Dave's shoulders sank. Hal thought he'd-- hurt him, destroy him! "If I ever hurt you," he said, fumbling a small gun out of his pocket, "you can shoot me with this." Hal looked at the weapon and shook his head, his hands pulling back in fear. "I'm not Liquid," he said desperately.

"You're both Snakes."

**T - 10 minutes**

****"Please," said Hal through the tears he hadn't yet stopped. "He'll kill you! You said it yourself, he's stronger, _please_! Don't fight him!" Liquid frowned. It seemed as though he hadn't quite impressed upon Hal his true strength.

"It's _my_ fight, Hal. Finish up with that bomb, then go back down."

"He killed Wolf! And Raven! Please, don't let him kill you!"

"Don't worry." Liquid smiled at Hal. "You wouldn't manage by yourself, so I won't leave you alone."

"But--"

"Hurry up," snapped Liquid. "And when you're done, get down and make yourself invisible."

Hal continued working in silence punctuated by short sniffs and stifled moans of pain for a moment. "What's going to happen to Meryl?" he asked, his eyes resting on the woman with the cute walk.

"Snake's girl?" asked Liquid. Hal nodded. Liquid knelt next to Hal. "When Snake and I are done fighting, I'll let her go," he said gently into Hal's ear. Had nodded, obviously relieved.

Liquid smiled. He could do that quite literally from a plane 5 miles up. He'd heard the mention of the girl's cute butt.

"O-Okay," Hal said, stuttering. "I'm done," he said. "When you want the timer to start, just touch this button here, and when you need to turn it off, press this one." He sat down next to the bomb. "Liquid... I... I love you."

"I love you too," Liquid replied automatically.

"I... you really hurt me," said Hal carefully. "My... Can you die from that?"

"No," he said shortly.

Hal went quiet for a moment. "It still hurts," he said, his voice almost low enough that Liquid could have missed it against the background noise.

"He's waking up," said Liquid with a sneer at Solid.

Almost unnoticed, Hal turned his suit on.

*****

The wet feeling suddenly penetrated Dave's consciousness. Hal was crying in the embrace Dave had been too shocked to release him from. Dave's arms tightened around Hal, unable to reconcile the story with anything he knew about Hal. "Do you hate me?" asked Hal.

Dave couldn't find his voice for a moment. Hal could have killed them all. He could have killed Meryl. His Hal, his pacifist scientist, his backup on missions, his... his _love_. Stockholm Syndrome? This was so much worse. He'd been rooting for Liquid! For a man who'd raped him, who'd attacked him and held him hostage in his own lab. Who'd held him captive for _months before that_ , breaking him with cruel, one-sided sexual fantasies and mind games...

And Hal still couldn't tell that it had been a bad thing.

"No," he said eventually, his throat nearly closed by emotion.

"I... he and I... for him... I could have... I could have been a murderer."

Dave stroked Hal's hair for a while without saying anything. He was right. He could have been. But in the end, he'd gone against Liquid, disabling the security on the way out. "You let Meryl and I out. You were going to stay and die. Because of him?"

Hal said nothing.

Dave bit his lip. "Do you still love him?" he asked, afraid of the answer.

Hal looked up into Dave's face, his eyes blank and confused. Dave wondered what the other man saw there: did he see Liquid's murderer? Hal's friend? Did he see Liquid's clone? Hal didn't seem to be able to say a word.

That manipulative bastard. Dead for years and still plaguing Snake's partner as if he were right there in the room, hands around Hal's neck in some sort of bondage nightmare. Maybe his ghost still _was_ there. It all came down to one question that Snake wasn't entirely sure Hal even knew how to answer.

"Do you still love him?"

Hal opened his mouth to answer.


End file.
